


Careful what you wish for

by killerweasel



Category: Leverage
Genre: Gen, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-03
Updated: 2013-02-03
Packaged: 2017-11-28 01:19:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/668623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You have to be specific with wishes or the results can be unexpected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Careful what you wish for

Title: Careful what you wish for  
Fandom(s): Leverage  
Characters: Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison, assorted characters  
Rating: PG-13  
Word count: 1,366  
A/N: AU After _Leverage's The Homecoming Job_

 

**Careful what you wish for**

“Stop staring at me like that.”

Hardison’s eyes darted to the side. “Sorry. It’s just that... Eliot, you’ve got _wings_.”

“Really?” I flexed my shoulders. “Without your wonderful information, Hardison, I never would have known I had seven foot long bat wings sticking out of my body.”

“Eliot.” There was a warning tone to Nate’s voice. I knew he’d throw me out of the meeting if I didn’t knock it off.

“I think they look more like the wings of a dragon than a bat.” Parker’s fingertips slid along the edge of one of my wings. Her touch was light, barely skimming the surface. I swallowed a couple of times. “I like them.”

“Have you tried flying yet, Eliot?” Sophie smiled at me. “That’s something I’d really like to see.”

Nate tapped his fingers on the top of the table. “He’s got wings. Now leave the man be so we can please get back on track.”

That was all it took for the rest of them to focus. Even though I tried to concentrate on what he was saying, tried to listen to who we were supposed to be helping next, I felt myself growing increasingly distracted. I’d been in much tighter places than this, a dirt cell in Africa sprang to mind, but I was starting to feel claustrophobic in the room.

“What’s the matter with you?” Hardison leaned in closer to me. “You’re jumpier than a mailman with a pair of bacon pants.”

“I... I have to get out of here.” My wings knocked my chair over as I bolted from my seat. I took off down the hall, ignoring the shouts of the others as I made my way to the elevator. My hand darted out, pushing the button a bunch of times. “Come on, damn it.”

The elevator was slow and by the time the doors opened, Hardison had caught up with me. “Wait up.”

“Are they all coming to see what’s wrong?” I glanced over his shoulder before stepping inside.

“Nah, it’s just me.” He slid around me to press the button for the roof. “That’s where you were headed, right?” I nodded. “Okay.”

As soon as we reached the roof, I shot out of the elevator. I didn’t stop moving until I was in the middle of the building. Hardison started to follow me and I shook my head. “Just stay over there for a couple minutes, I don’t want to accidentally knock you off.” His eyes widened, but he took a couple steps backward.

Turning away from him, I slowly began to spread my wings out. The first time I’d done this, the wings had felt almost alien, like they weren’t even a part of me. That had changed over the past couple of weeks. Maybe my body had just needed some time to adjust. Without even thinking about it, I began to flap the wings just hard enough to raise my body a few inches off of the roof. I heard an impressed curse escape Hardison’s lips behind me. “You think that’s neat, check this shit out.”

Sinking back down, I took a deep breath. Then I sprinted across the roof and dove right over the side of the building. Hardison yelled my name as I dropped towards the ground below. I waited until the right moment to unfurl my wings and then used the updrafts to soar back to the sky. Nothing I’d ever done before felt like this. This was just so... freeing.

I quickly lost track of time. The only reason I landed back on the roof at all was because the muscles in my chest, back, and shoulders were beginning to scream. I took a couple of steps forward and started to collapse. Hardison grabbed me before I could slam face first into the roof. “That was awesome.”

“It takes a lot out of me though.” He helped me sit up and I had to close my eyes because the world swirled around a few times. “I’m going to have to eat a lot to make up for it.”

Hardison pulled a candy bar out of his pocket. “Here.” I gave him a grin as I took it. “I gotta ask. How did you end up with wings anyway?”

“You’re not allowed to laugh.” I gave him a look.

He gave me one right back. “See, that’s just silly because now I know I’m going to laugh.”

Rolling my eyes, I took a big bite from the candy bar. “It was during that job I took in India. Long story short, I was trapped inside of this tall building with no way out and a lot of very pissed off guys with guns trying to kill me. I’m looking around the room, trying to find something I can use for a weapon. And then I see this weird box behind the desk. It looked ancient and I figured I might as well see if I can make a little extra money by grabbing whatever was inside.” The box seemed almost empty when I’d picked it up.

“I ended up on the roof. I’d blocked the only door, but they were working on kicking it down. So I opened the box to see what the hell was inside.” I made a face. “It was a hand.”

“As in a human hand? Who keeps a hand in a box? Never mind, don’t answer that.”

I snorted before looking serious again. “It looked like it belonged to a monkey or something. The thing was all shriveled and gross. A couple of the fingers were bent and I couldn’t get them to move at all, no matter how hard I pulled. I’m holding the creepy thing when I walk to the edge of the roof and look down. A jump from that height would kill me. The door behind me was starting to splinter. Basically, I was royally screwed.”

Hardison slipped me another candy bar. “Thanks.” I ate this one slower. The world was no longer spinning too fast and I didn’t feel like I was going to keel over any more. “Just as they kick the door in, I said something like ‘I wish I could fly out of here’. And that creepy damn thing _moved_ in my hand. I was so surprised that I dropped it. It landed palm up and I could see another finger was now bent over. That’s when things really got weird.”

What followed was a bit of a blur, most of which I blamed on pain and shock. “I can remember the lead guard pointing his gun at me and yelling something. Started to turn away from them and then it felt like my back was on fire. At first I thought maybe they’d shot me. The pain doubled and then tripled. I was screaming. That’s when I noticed the guards were screaming too.” I sucked the last bit of chocolate from my fingers. “Apparently none of them had seen a man sprout wings before.”

“Wait a second. You’re telling me you wished to fly and suddenly those big wings of yours came bursting out of your back?” Hardison stared at my wings. “Wasn’t there a story about a cursed paw or something? That it gave people what they wanted, but it came with a price?”

I shrugged. “All I know is my back hurt like a son of a bitch and then I had these things sticking out of it. The guards fled in terror, not that I blame them. I didn’t come back to the States until I could use these properly. Do you have any idea how hard it is to hide something like this? I can’t even go up to the store without covering them up. And I had to get all of my clothing altered.”

“But you can _fly_. How many other people can do that?” He patted me on the shoulder. “Come on, I’ll order us some real food.”

“Pizza?”

“Whatever you want.” He helped me up, being careful not to bump into my wings. “And Eliot? You might want to take a shower. All that flying around made you stink.”

I flipped him off.


End file.
